Rail frog



March 7, 1939. A ENSTROM 2,149,426

RAIL FROG N :5 Filed Aug. 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l I fimrenmr was?Enstm Patented Mar. 7, 1939 "UNITE of STATES ATET 3 Claims.

This invention relates to railway frogs and has for its object aconstruction wherein the point of the frog is at all times so positionedthat it will not be broken or damaged by the operation of car wheelsover and through the frog.

Among its other objects the present invention contemplates a frog,preferably a spring frog, over and through which traffic may move inboth directions, if this be desired.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be apparent thisinvention consists in the construction, combination and arrangements ofparts, all as hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustratedin the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a railway frog constructed in accordance withthe present invention:

Fig. 2 is a vertical, transverse section taken along line 22 of Fig. 1and, in dotted lines, illustrates the cooperation of a car wheel withthe frog:

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, longitudinal vertical section taken along line3-3 of Fig 2 to illustrate in side elevation the construction and formof the point of the frog: and A Fig. 4 is a horizontal section takenalong line 44 of Fig. 2 looking upwardly in the direction of the arrows.

Heretofore it has been generally customary to normally position thepoint of a railway frog as close as possible to the head and/or web ofthe cooperating rail. This positioning of the point of the frog hasresulted in great wear, tear and damage to the point of the frog as wellas in the breakage thereof, necessitating the frequent repair andreplacement of the frog or at least its point. These prior frogs,especially in spring frogs, have been usually designed for trafiic inonly one direction.

The present invention contemplates a railway frog in which the point ofthe frog is at all times positioned at a point removed from the headand/or web of the cooperating rail, so that the flange of a car wheeloperating over or through the frog will not contact the point of thefrog, irrespective of the direction of travel. Thus the life of the frogis extended, repairs and replacements reduced and potential derailmentseliminated. Traffic in both directions is possible by the use of thepresent frog without damage or breakage to the frog or its parts orelements.

Reference being had to the drawings 10 designates the point of a railfrog. One side of the frog point I aligns with and is fixed to a runningor mainline rail I! while the other side of the point Hi aligns with andis fixed to the rail l2 of the side or crossing track. Extending beyondthe point ll) of the frog and normally in alignment with the runningrail H is a continuing running rail l3, the extremity [4 of which liesadjoining the frog point i0 and the side track or crossing rail l2. Theextremity M of the rail I3 is known as the moving wing rail, as it maymove outwardly away from the frog point l0. 0n the other side of thefrog point ill to the rail I3 is located a side track or crossing rail i6 which can be positioned to be a continuation of the side or crossingrail i2 fixed to the frog point Ill.

The extremity I 6 of the rail I is formed to lie on the opposite side ofthe frog point I!) to the extremity ll of the rail l3 and is generallydesignated the stationary wing rail since it is immovable with respectto the'fixed frog point ill. The foregoing described arrangement andconstruction of rails is standard and well known prior to the presentinvention and is included herein to illustrate the application and useof the present invention in a standard frog construction. Heretofore thefrog point has rested flush against the inner surface of the moving wingrail with the result that it is subjected to extreme wear and tear andis not infrequently broken and must be replaced or repaired.

The present invention resides in the construction and form of the pointll] of the frog where by said point at all times will be removed fromthe Web and/or tread of the adjoining portion or face of the rail i3 orthe moving wing rail M with which it normally cooperates. This isaccomplished by bending or forming the web I! of the end portion of thefrog point ii! at the points it and I9 away from the web of. the

'rail l3 and its extension l4 which normally removes said end portion ofthe point ill from any contact with the head and/or web of the rail i3and the moving wing rail l4 and provides a space 2! between the movingwing rail and the end portion of the frog point I0 suflicient in widthto permit the entrance and passage of the flange 22 of a car wheel 23.

If desired the outer extremity of the web i I may be bevelled or taperedas illustrated at 24 in Fig. 4 thereby reducing the width of the metalbody presented to the flange 22 of the car wheel 23 passing over thepoint ill or between said point and the rail i3 and its extension i4. Atits outer extremity the tread or head of the frog point I is cut away asat 25, to add to the strength of the point by removing any relativelythin body on the head or tread of the point II] that may be presented tothe wheel 23 or its flange 22.

To accentuate the space 2| between the point I0 and the head and/or webof the rail I3 and its extension l4 and thereby insure the provision andmaintenance of this space 2|, the rail I3 and the moving wing rail I4 isbent or formed in a direction away from the frog point Ill at 26, 27,the bend 2'! being at or nearly in transverse alignment with the endportion of the frog point I 0. When the point It) occupies its normalposition in cooperation with the moving wing rail l4, that side of thepoint l0 aligned with the main or running rail H is also aligned withthe rail l3 beyond the bend 26 therein.

In operation, a car wheel 23 travelling on rail l3 and passing over thefrog point II] to the rail II, or vice versa, does so withoutinterference from or damage to the point If] for the point normallyoccupies a position for such operation with edges of its head and of theheads of the rails I! and I3 in alignment for cooperation with theflange 22 of the wheel 23. On the other hand, a wheel 23 passing ineither direction from the rail l2 to the rail l5 does so by having itsflange enter the space 2| between the point Ill and the moving wing raill4, also without contacting the extremity of the point l0.

From the foregoing, it is manifest that irrespective of the direction oftravel or of, the rails being operated upon, the extremity of the pointIt) is always positioned out of the path of travel of the flange 23 ofthe wheel and is thus fully protected from damage or breakage. It isalso to be noted that by having the extremity of the point Ill spacedfrom the rail 13 and/or the moving wing rail, travel in either directionis possible on the rails l2 and IS without damage to the frog point.

What is claimed is:

1. A rail frog comprising a moving wing rail, and a frog point havingconvergent sides, the end portion of the side of the point adjoiningsaid wing rail being positioned at an angle tothe remainder of that sidein a direction away from said wing rail to create a space between theend of the frog point and the wing rail.

2. A rail frog comprising a running rail, a moving wing rail coactingtherewith, and a frog point having convergent sides, one of said sidesbeing aligned throughout with one side of the running rail and the endportion of the opposite side being disposed at an angle to the'remainderof said opposite side, thereby creating a space between the end of thepoint and the cooperating wing rail. 7

3. A rail frog, comprising a fixed frog point having convergent sidesand a moving wing rail normally contacting one side of said frog point,for a substantial distance at the rear of its end portion, the side ofsaid end portion of the frog point facing said wing rail lying in asubstantially vertical plane disposed at an angle to the plane of theremainder of said side and extending in a direction away from saidmoving wing rail.

AUGUST ENSTROM.

